State / Local Briefs: N.C. Supreme Court will rule on searches

N.C. Supreme Court will rule on searches

The N.C. Supreme Court is going to decide whether officials at an alternative school should have required students to participate in a bra search based on a tip that pills were being bought to class.

LaToya Powell of the state attorney general's office, which is representing the school, told the court Monday the searches in 2008 were minimally invasive. During the search, students had to untuck their shirts and lift their bra away from their body.

An attorney for a student at Brunswick County Academy says her client was humiliated by the search, which was done in the presence of two men.

The state Court of Appeals ruled last year the searches were unconstitutional as well as "degrading, demeaning and highly intrusive."

The Associated Press

More than 18,000 use sex-offender app

More than 18,000 people have downloaded a new app that allows them to search for registered North Carolina sex offenders through GPS or street address.

The new app went live on Jan. 31, and during one period last week, it was ranked nationally as one of the top 10 educational apps on iTunes.

The app is currently available for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. It can be downloaded at iTunes or at www.ncdoj.gov. The N.C Attorney General's Office said it is continuing to work on developing an app that will work on other platforms, such as Android.

The app allows an offender's home address to be pinpointed on the app's on-screen map, and users can search for all offenders within a 1-, 3- or 5-mile radius.

The Associated Press

Guilford principal to move to Easton

The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County school system will pull Easton Elementary School's new principal from Guilford County.

Beatriz M. Jones-Veto, a Guilford principal who has also been a principal in the Alamance-Burlington school system, will fill a vacancy left by a chain reaction of mid-year principal movement. The school board chose Jones-Veto on Monday evening, but her start date at Easton has not been set, school system spokesman Theo Helm said.

Jones-Veto will replace Celena Tribby, who will move from Easton to Hall-Woodward Elementary School. Hall-Woodward has an interim principal now, after Essie McKoy left to become Petree Elementary's principal following Charlene Davis' retirement there.

Travis Fain

Stokes to fund work at Pinnacle school

The Stokes County Board of Commissioners indicated Monday that they will give the county's school system $50,000 to restore a soccer field and build a new basketball court at Pinnacle Elementary School.

For the past few years, pods used to house students from Nancy Reynolds Elementary School sat on those play areas while a new Nancy Reynolds school was being built.

With the new Nancy Reynolds school open, school officials say it's time to restore those areas and honor a commitment it made to the Pinnacle community and elementary school.

The project will cost $50,000 and be taken from a fund used to build the Nancy Reynolds school, which came in $421,000 under budget, according to David Burge, the operations director for Stokes County Schools.

Burge said he expects the project will be finished before the 2012-13 school year.

Lisa O'Donnell

Uwharrie fire expected to be contained

A fire that has burned 73 acres in the Uwharrie National Forest should be fully contained by Monday night, the U.S. Forest Service said.

No injuries were reported, said Deborah Walker, a forest-service spokeswoman. The fire hasn't damaged any homes or businesses.

Investigators are trying to determine the cause of the fire, Walker said.

John Hinton

Drug charges lodged against pair

A driver and his passenger were charged Sunday with three counts each of trafficking in cocaine after drugs were found in their car during a traffic stop on Interstate 85, authorities said Monday.

During the traffic stop for speeding, a drug-sniffing dog detected the presence of narcotics, the Davidson County Sheriff's Office said. The deputy then found 5 ounces of cocaine in the car's truck.

The cocaine had a street value of $15,000.

Charles Williams Jr., 49, and Elisabeth MacMullen, 25, of Wayne, N.J., were arrested and charged with the drug-trafficking offenses and with felony possession of drug paraphernalia, the sheriff's office said.

John Hinton